John Hilton, FUMA Class of 1960, passed away Thursday after suffering a recent fall. Hilton's health had been failing in recent years, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Hilton also had shown symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease that has been making news in recent years for affecting former football players and other athletes who had suffered concussions during their playing careers. Hilton lived in Richmond with his wife Penny.
John Hilton came to Fork Union as a postgraduate cadet in 1959 after graduating from Hermitage High School in Richmond, Virginia. He played basketball, football and track and excelled in each to such an extend that he was named Fork Union Military Academy's Best All-Around Athlete for 1960. Hilton attended the University of Richmond on an athletic scholarship. He was one of the finest tight ends ever to play at University of Richmond and is eighth on Richmond's career receptions list with 87; ninth on the career yardage list with 1,289; and fourth in career touchdown receptions with 14. Hilton was selected All-State in 1961, 1962, and 1964, as well as All-Southern Conference in 1964. While at Richmond he participated in the Senior Bowl and the Blue-Gray All-Star classic. Hilton is a member of the University of Richmond's Hall of Fame.
After college, John was drafted by the Detroit Lions and spent nine years playing in the NFL - five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, one year with the Green Bay Packers and two years with the Detroit Lions. He had a split year with the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins during his career. In 1996 Hilton was voted the Most Valuable Offensive Player for the Pittsburgh Steelers after breaking a 25-year Steeler's record for tight ends by making 46 catches. Hilton's record for single season receptions by a Steelers tight end also stood for another 25 years. In 1970, Hilton was traded to the Green Bay Packers where he caught the last touchdown pass thrown by legendary quarterback Bart Starr.
After his playing days John spent seven years coaching the NFL including three with the Chicago Bears. His coaching career also included three years with the Washington Redskins and one with the Green Bay Packers.
In 1996, Hilton was inducted as a charter member of the Fork Union Military Academy Sports Hall of Fame, one of the first athletes to be inducted at the very first Sports Hall of Fame banquets. His bronze plaque hangs in the Estes Athletic Center. Hilton was also inducted into the Hermitage High School Hall of Fame, the University of Richmond Hall of Fame, and, in 2008, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2006, with NFL Films on campus to produce an "NFL Films Presents" documentary on Fork Union Military Academy, a number of former Fork Union players who had played in the NFL were invited to Fork Union's football game versus rival Collegiate, then quarterbacked by Russell Wilson, currently of the Seattle Seahawks. John Hilton was one of Fork Union's NFL alumni to return for that game, and during a break between quarters, he was called to join then Academy President, LTG John Jackson, at the center of field and introduced to the crowd to a loud ovation.
John Hilton's most recent visit to Fork Union came during Alumni Weekend in May of 2010, when he marched across the parade deck for one last time as a member of the 50th Reunion Class of 1960 during the Alumni Day Parade, joining his classmates in remembering and honoring their days as young men on the very same football field that helped launch Hilton's dreams of success in the National Football League.
John Hilton (at left), FUMA Class of 1960, with longtime FUMA Commandant and Head Football Coach, the late COL "Red" Pulliam. Photo taken at Alumni BBQ in May 2010.